Helping Great Individual Contributors Become Great Supervisors

1. Helping Great Individual Contributors Become Great Supervisors

2. Challenges • Not making the mental shift from “doer” to “leader” • Uncertainty about how to delegate work • Inability to allocate work fairly among the team • Failure to deal with conflict effectively • Withholding knowledge and information necessary for successful projects

3. Chat Pod • Why did you choose to be a supervisor or hope to be one?

4. New Supervisor Blind Spots • 42% of supervisors don’t understand what it takes to succeed • 89% have at least one blind spot • Only 1 in 10 were actually groomed for the job • Half took the role for an increase in compensation–only 23% actually wanted to lead others • More than half of leaders learned through trial and error

5. 1. Mental shift from “doer” to “leader”

6. Polling Question

7. Tips for making the mental shift from “doer” to “leader” • Don’t fall into the trap of “BLM,” or “be like me.” Your agency hired you for a specific skill set or talent; everyone has specific skills or talents. Diversity is your friend here. • Look for what your team truly needs (fill the gap). You’re not trying to replace yourself, necessarily. • Work tirelessly to be aware of what behaviors and actions you’re intentionally demonstrating. Your job, again, is to grow capacity in your team members.

8. 2. Uncertainty about how to delegate work

9. Polling Question

10. Tips for successful delegation • Determine the experience level of the employee you select. New assignment? New type of work? Business as usual? • Ask questions, and listen. Listen intently to make sure your employee understands what you need. • Have employees repeat (in their own words) what you’re asking them to do. • Ask them, “What can I do to support you?” • Hold progress check-in meetings.

11. 3. Inability to allocate work fairly

12. Polling Question

13. Tips for allocating work fairly • Talk to your people. Ask them what types of assignments they want. Align work, worker, and workplace as frequently and as much as you can. • Be fair. Don’t give one person all the good assignments, and someone else all the less desirable ones. We all have to do things we don’t like, but try to keep those to a minimum. • Provide stretch assignments to those people who are your high performers. Chances are, they appreciate the challenge.

14. 4. Failure to deal with conflict effectively

15. Polling Question

16. Challenges Excessive employee turnover Low morale Reduced productivity Quality problems Delayed and missed deadlines Increased supervision overhead Conflict: Opportunities and Challenges Opportunities • You create new Ideas • You learn about others • You understand yourself • You see different perspectives • You practice communication

17. Tips for Resolving Conflict • Acknowledge that it exists, and address all parties individually and together as a group. • Continually focus on areas where interests are similar. • Seek guidance from your manager, or from your HR partner. • Be consistent in how you deal with everyone involved.

18. 5. Withholding necessary information

19. Polling Question

20. Challenges Team may feel it doesn’t have the information necessary for success You may feel that knowledge is power, so you hoard it People may begin to distrust you if they notice a pattern of you not being transparent Withholding Knowledge and Information: Opportunities • You get to decide what is (and what is not) appropriate information to convey to your team • Part of the role of a supervisor is to sometimes be a “buffer” between your employees and Sr. Leadership

21. Tips for Being Transparent • Be consistently honest, candid, and sensitive to what you need to share. • Ask your people what more they need, and provide it in all cases where possible and appropriate. • Realize that your team is depending on you for your success, as well as you depending on them for yours.

22. Questions and Answers